With a team payroll of over $200 million, and ten players making eight figures this year, it's tough for someone to fly under the radar with the Yankees. Just because a player makes a lot of money doesn't mean he's going to be a superstar, but a lot of the higher priced players on the Yankees *are* superstars. I don't think anyone would call a player like Kevin Youkilis, Mark Teixeira, or Hiroki Kuroda an x-factor, despite the fact that they're not franchise cornerstones for this Yankees team like CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera.
My x-factor for the New York Yankees in 2013 is Brett Gardner.
Did you know that Gardner was second among all Yankees hitters in fWAR from 2010 to 2011? Gardner amassed 11.3 wins above replacement, falling behind just Robinson Cano, and by just less than a win in 220 fewer plate appearances. The man's contributions to the Yankees have been astonishing. Over those two seasons, he outproduced Teixeira, Jeter, Granderson, Nick Swisher, Rodriguez…everyone on offense aside from Cano, one of the best players in baseball. Not bad, I say.
But of course, that didn't happen last year. Gardner played in just 16 games for the Yankees, missing nearly the entire season with an elbow injury. The Yankees really could have used him too, because their left field defense without Gardner in the fold was horrific. Gardner amassed +49 DRS over 2010 and 2011, and topped 25.0 in UZR in both of those seasons as well. Without Gardner in 2012, the Yankees left fielders put together -2 DRS and 12.2 UZR (which is a miraculous total, all things considered). Having Gardner in left would have added another onoe to three wins to the Yankees total fWAR last year, and would have helped them out a ton considering the struggles of Granderson in center.
The contributions Gardner makes to the Yankees go beyond just defense too, as he was one of the best baserunners in baseball during his tenure as the team's starting left fielder. Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones, who got most of the playing time in left last year, were both below average baserunners. Replacing them with Gardner in the lineup would have been a huge positive burst for the Yankees on the bases, even with a bit of a slight drop in power. But that wouldn't have mattered anyway, because the plan all along with those two was to use them at DH instead of in the field. New York's plans spiraled out of control with Gardner immediately getting hurt to start the season, and then Rodriguez's injury further complicated manners and destroyed all of the Yankees well-laid plans. A healthy Gardner will help in multiple ways this season.
Yankees on TOC
End of Season Postmortem
2013 Season Preview
You May Say I'm a Dreamer
2013 Burning Question
This Is My Nightmare
2013 X-Factor
